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Table 1 :Laboratory Analysis of Physicochemical PropertiesPantal River of Water of PantalRiver
Based on the results given by Limnology Department of Bureau of Fishery and Agriculture, Physicochemical parameters of Pantal river water quantitatively at five different stations at Pantal are presented in Table 1.
Temperature is measured as 29oC, where according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, a temperature below 30oC is optimal in supporting the aquatic life. It therefore means that the water temperature in Pantal is optimum for aquatic organism to thrive in. Furthermore, If the temperature is as higher as 37 , it will affect the fish growth and metabolism thus affecting the ecosystem.
| Parameters | PANTAL RIVER | Mean | Standard values (WHO, ICMR as per BFAR) | Descriptive Evaluation | ||||
| Station 1 | Station 2 | Station 3 | Station 4 | Station 5 | ||||
| Time (am) | 11:00 | 11.04 | 11.08 | 11.15 | 11.17 | – | – | – |
| Physical Properties | ||||||||
| Temperature (oC) | 29.13 | 29.10 | 29.17 | 28.87 | 29.02 | 29.06 | 30oC | Below standard limit |
| Water pH (No) | 8.30 | 7.82 | 7.67 | 8.05 | 7.65 | 7.9 | 6.5 – 8.5 | Within standard limit |
| Salinity (ppt) | 3.75 | 15.20 | 22.40 | 2.45 | 17.75 | 12.31 | 0.5 – 37 | Within standard limit |
| Total Suspended solids (mg/L) | 22.18 | 21.70 | 16.45 | 21.92 | 21.38 | 20.73 | 30 | Below standard limit |
| Turbidity (NTU) | 31.50 | 14.42 | 24.45 | 36.85 | 22.80 | 26.0 | 10 | Above standard limit |
| Total hardness (mg/L) | 580.5 | 713.8 | 516.0 | 378.4 | 612.32 | 560.20 | 500 | Above standard limit |
| Chemical Properties | ||||||||
| Phosphate (mg/L) | 0.172 | 0.165 | 0.164 | 0.158 | 0.163 | 0.135 | 0.5 | Below standard limit |
| Nitrite (mg/L) | 0.568 | 0.439 | 0.574 | 0.542 | 0.444 | 0.513 | 1 | Below standard limit |
| Ammonia (mg/L) | 0.33 | 0.32 | 0.18 | 0.14 | 0.12 | 0.22 | 1 | Below standard limit |
| Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) | 4.31 | 6.94 | 3.10 | 4.74 | 3.43 | 4.5 | 5 | Below standard limit |
| Biological oxygen Demand (mg/L) | 4.83 | 3.33 | 2.50 | 5.23 | 3.38 | 3.85 | 5 | Below standard limit |
The pH is measured as 7.9. It is therefore Alkaline in nature that it is basic and considered as the optimal pH that supports aquatic life since the pH is between 6.5 to 8.5 as prescribed by WHO (2017) .Extreme pH can actually kill the fishes and also the developing larve thus affecting the aquatic life (Sagar T.P., 2012).
Pantal river water’s level of salinity is 12.31ppt. Water whose salinity is less than 0.5ppt is considered as freshwater and more than 37ppt is said to be saline water. Water whose salinity level is between 0.5 to 37 ppt is said to be brackish thus Pantal river is Brackish and it is within permissible limit. Since Pantal river water is brackish, it allows spawning of certain marine fish species thus it serve as great fish pens supporting human food supply and the birds (Whitfield,A.K. 2016).
The Pantal River water
The Pantal River water is very turbid that its mean value is found to be 26 NTU.According to BFAR, Lesser the turbidity, more the survival rate. If turbidity is higher than 10NTU, it though supports aquatic living beings, it slows the rate of growth and metabolism of aquatic living beings. The resulttherefore means that aquatic population is lesser so that it would affect human food supply.Since the river wateris more turbid that it has 26NTU, its consumer acceptance is lower.
Chemicals like Phosphate, nitrite and ammonia are under permissible limits 0.135,0.513 and 0.22 respectively. This means that the chemical parameters present in the water are suitable for breeding purposes. As Pantal is used for aquaculture purposes. Increased concentration of phosphate in water pose a large problem within the water environment as it leads to eutrophication (Eunju, K. et.al, 2013). Furthermore, the increase concentration of phosphate and nitrate in water poses a toxic effect in the fish (Eunju K.et.al 2013, Kroupova H.et.al., 2015). An increased concentration of Ammonia in water to toxicatation of the fish, it leads to the build-up of toxic in the internal tissues of the aquatic organism which most of the time leads to death (EPA, 2017).
Total suspended solids or dissolved solids is very minimal than the standard. The total hardness of the river water is due to the amount of magnesium and calcium ions present in water. According to the result, it is higher than the standard value of total hardness. In an article by Frank Prince (2018), He said that the water hardness affects fish metabolism and osmoregulation.
According to WHO, (DO) Dissolved Oxygen level should be within 5.0-8.0mg/l whereas (BOD) should be 5.0-7.0mg/l. But Dissolved Oxygen and Biological Oxygen Demand are lower than the WHO standard. This will minimize the consumer acceptance of the river. However, In Pantalriver, it is only 4.5mg/l. however BOD is 3.85 mg/l. (WHO, ICMR, BFAR)
Table 2: Analysis of Variance of the Physicochemical Parameters and the Five Stations
| Source of variation | Sum of squares | df | Mean square | Computed f | Critical f |
| Between Group | 5327.766813 | 4 | 1331.941703 | 0.046 | 2.55717 |
| Within Group | 1435896.02621647 | 50 | 28717.92052 | ||
| Total | 54 |
According to the table-2 which shows the values of the One way ANOVA. According to the table, the computed f is lesser than that of critical f i.e. . So the alternative hypothesis is rejected and the null hypothesis is accepted which means thatthere is no significant difference between the physicochemical characteristics of the water within the five stations since the value of the f computed is lower than that of the critical f. This simply means that all the values obtained from the different water sampling site along the Pantal River do not vary.
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